John haywood compton



I. H. COMPTON.

AUTOMATIC ORGAN.

APPLICATION FILED pzc zs. ms.

1,320,317. Patented Oct. 28,1919.

" To all whom it may concern:

JOHN HAYWOOD COMPTON, OF NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND.

AUTOMATIC ORGAN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 28, 1919.

Application filed December 26, 1916. Serial No. 138,929.

Be it known that I, JOHN HAYWOOD COMP- TON, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Castle Boulevard, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in Automatic Organs, of which the following is a specification,

This invention relates to automatic organs and has for its object to provide improved means, controlled by the perforated music roll or sheet; for automatically operating the stop, swell, tempo and other mechanisms of the organ.

According to this invention, the tracker bar, in addition to control devices, such as circuit contacts in an electrical system, or. wind apertures in a pneumatically operated system, is provided with governor devices arranged so that the stop, swell or other organ mechanism is moved to an operative position only when control and governor devices correspondin to this mechanism become operative at the same time, and the said mechanism is returned to its inoperative position only when the corresponding governor de vice becomes operative alone.

The improved arrangement is self-locking so that when a stop or the like is brought to the on position by simultaneous action of the control and governor devices, the said stop or the like remains on after both the control and governor devices have become inoperative and until released by the action of the governor device alone. a

This improved arrangement is particularly applicable to automatic organs in which the tracker bar devices controlling the stop, swell or like mechanisms are arranged in a group or cluster at one or each end of the note-playing devices, so that a perforation in the music roll intended to operate a swell, stop or like mechanism passes over a number of the control devices in succession all of which are not required to be made operative by the passage of this perforation.

If desired, a separate governor device may be provided for every control device, but it will be found in practice that fewer governor devices will suffice, and each governor device can serve in cooperation with several control devices.

The accompanying drawing shows how the said invention may be conveniently and advantageously carried into practice. In this drawing Figure 1 is a diagram showing an arrangement of electrical connections for automatically operating the stop, swell or other mechanism of an organ, in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an analogous arrangement operated pneumatically.

Referring to Fig. 1, 3 is an electromagnet actuating a stop, swell, tempo or other mechanism of an organ. The windings of this electromagnet are included in a circuit 4 with a source of electrical energy 5, a switch 6 and an electromagnet 7. The electromagnet 7 can be cut out of the circuit 4 by closing a shunt circuit 8 at a switch 9 for the purpose presently explained. Control con tacts 10 on the tracker bar 50 are included in a circuit 11 passing through a switch 12 and an electromagnet 13, the contacts and circuit together forming a controlling de- Vice; and governor contacts 14 also on the tracker bar 50 are included in a circuit 15 passing through an electromagnet 16, the

latter and the contacts 1 1 similarly forming a governor device. For clearness these several circuits are respectively indicated in lines of different character.

The tracker bar 50, of which only a portion of the left-hand end is shown in Fig. 1, has the contacts 10, 14 set therein in insulating sleeves, or the tracker bar 50 may be made of an insulating material, or any other convenient means may-be employed to insulate' the contacts one from the other. These contacts 10, 14 are closed in pairs in any convenient manner by the operation of a music roll passing over the tracker bar 50 in the direction in which the series or column of contaacts 10 are arranged. For example, the music roll 51 may have perforations 52 formed therein such that when a perforation arrives opposite any pair of con tacts a conveniently arranged finger 53 en ters the perforation and bridges the contacts until said finger is raised from the contacts by the arrival of an unperforated portion of the music roll beneath it. These fingers are in the music roll in appropriate places so as to bridge the contacts as they pass over the same. The particulardevices employed for closing the contacts 10, 1 1 are not essential to this invention, which in the electrically operated arrangement shown in Fig. 1 con sists in the arrangement of the circuits connected directly or indirectly to these contacts.

For each stop, swell or like mechanism in the organ there is an actuating magnet 3 with its control and governor systems, as shown in Fig. 1, forming one distinct element of the organ. The additional pairs of contacts 10, lt on the tracker bar correspond to other mechanisms than that actuated by the one magnet 3 shown. For each magnet 3, there is on the tracker bar an individually corresponding pair of governor contacts L1 and a pair of control cont-acts 10 correspond-- ing to this pair of governor contacts. In order to economize space along the tracker bar, the contacts 10 are arranged on the tracker bar in such a manner that the fingers 53 close each pair in succession as each per foration 52 is in turn carried past each pair of contacts by the movement of the music roll, but the closing of any one pair of contacts 10 has no effect unless the appropriate governor contacts are closed simultaneously. Because certain combinations of organ mechanisms are umnusical and therefore not used, it is possible in some cases to make one pair of contacts 10 serve for two or more organ mechanisms, but for each organ mechanism there must be a separate pair of governor contacts set in the tracker bar in such a manner that perforations or other closing means therefor, operated directly or indirectly by the music roll, do not interfere with any other pair of governor contacts.

The contacts 10 can therefore be set in a series or column as shown and any required number of pairs of contacts 10 can be provided. The top and bottom edges of the tracker bar 50 are therefore not shown on the drawing since the bar may be of such size that space is provided for all the pairs of contacts 10 required. The contacts 14L ar however of necessity arranged in a single row extending from left to right, as shown in the'drawing, along the tracker bar 50 and the length of the latter in this direction is determined accordingly.

The movable parts of the switches 9 and 12 are carried, together with the armature 17 of the electroinagnet 16, on a pivoted bar 18 acted on by a spring 19 arranged to effect separation of the armature 17 from the electromagnet 16 and to open the switches 9 and 12. An adjustable stop 20 is provided to limit the action of the spring 19. Similarly the movable part of the switch 6 and the armatures 21, 22 of the electromagnets 7 13, are mounted together on a pivoted bar 23 acted upon by a spring 2 1, the action of which is limited by an adjustable stop 25.

When the bars 18, 23 are in the positions in which they are shown in Fig. 1, and the control and governor contacts are open if then the control contacts 10 alone are closed this has no effect since the circuit 11 is open at the switch 12. If the governor contacts 1 1- alone are closed, the electromagnet 16 is energized drawing down the bar 18 and closin the switches 9 and 12, but thls has no eifect on the elcctromagnet 3 since the circuit 4, is open at the switch 6 and the circuit 11 is open at the control contacts 10.

When the control contacts 10 and the governor contacts 1a are simultaneously closed, the bar 18 is drawn down by the electromagnet 16, thus closing the switches 9, 12. This completes the circuit 11 whereby the electro magnet13 is energized and draws down the bar 23, thus closing the switch 6 so that the circuit 4 is completed through the windings of the electromagnet 7; and the electromagnet 3 is energized, thus putting the corresponding organ mechanism into operation.

If the governor contacts 1 1: are now opened, the bar 18-is released and the circuit 11 is broken at the switch 12 whether the contacts 10 remain closed or are opened. At the same time the shunt circuit 8 is broken at the switch 9, but the bar 23 continues to be held down by the electromagnet 7 so that the electromagnet 3 remains energized. IVhen the electromagnet 3 is thus energized and both the control ant governor contacts are open, the closing of the control contacts 10' alone is ineffectual since the switch 12 will be open because the electromagnet 16 has been de'e'nergized by opening the governor contacts 1 1.

To deenergize the magnet 3 and thus to put the corresliionding organ mechanism out of operation, the governor contacts 1 1 are alone closed or, both control and governor contacts being closed, the control contacts 10 are alone opened. In the first case, that is, closing the contacts 1% alone, the effect is to energize the electromagnet 16, thus drawing down the bar 18 and closing the switch 9 and thereby short-circuiting the electromagnet 7 which frees the bar 23 and opens the switch 6, thus breaking the circuit 4. In the second case, that is, when both control and governor contacts are closed, opening the control contacts 10 alone, the effect is to break the circuit 11 and thus deenergize the electromagnet 13. Since the electromagnet 7 is at the same time short-circuited by reaso of the switch 9 being closed, it follows that the bar 23 is no longer held down and it therefore rises and opens 'the switch 6, thus breaking the circuit 4;.

The pneumatic device shown in Fig. 2 is similarly operated by control and governor members. In this device the organ mechanism is connected to a rod 26 carrying a disk 27 which is a double valve. This rod is movable through the medium of a diaphragm 28 by air admitted through a control aperture 29 in the tracker bar 30, the aperture and diaphragm together constituting a controlling device. A governor aperture 31 in the tracker bar admits air to a diaphragm 32 to move a rod 33 carrying a valve 34, said diaphragm 32 and aperture 31 together constituting a combined governor device and device for returning the member operating the organ mechanism to it inoperative position. The disk 27 and valve 34 are arranged in a chamber 35 to which air under pressure is admitted from a wind box 36 through a passage 37 and from which air can escape through a passage 38, both these passages being controlled by the valve 34. In the walls of the chamber 35 recesses 39, 40 are formed on opposite sides of the disk 27. The recess 39 is provided with an exhaust port 41 closed by a valve 42 on the rod 26 when the disk 27 is moved away from this recess, and similarly the recess 40 is provided with an exhaust port 43" adapted to be closed by a valve 44 also on the rod 26. V

In the position in which the parts are shown in Fig. 2, air under pressure entering the chamber 35 from the wind box 36 through the passage 37 holds down the disk 27 to cover the recess 40, against any pressure exerted on the diaphragm 28 in the event of the control aperture being opened. It the control aperture 29 and the governor aperture 31 are open at the same time the passage 37 will be closed and the pressure in the chamber 35 will fall so that the diaphragm 28 will lift the rod 26, putting the mechanism actuated thereby into operation. The governor aperture 31 can then close without affecting the position of the disk 27 since 011 the consequent opening of the passage 37 air under pressure admitted to the chamber 35 holds the disk 27 pressed against the recess 39. In this position of the parts the control aperture can also close without effect, since the disk 27, and its rod 26, can only fall by the release of the pressure in the chamber 35 which can be done only by opening the governor aperture 31 alone, thereby raising the valve 34 from the passage 38.

What I claim is:

1. In an automatic organ, the combination of a tracker bar, a member for operating one of the organ mechanisms, a governor device actuated from the tracker bar, a controlling device separately actuated from the tracker bar, and a device put in operation by simultaneous actuation of the governor able part is carried on the said bar (18) and controlling devices to maintain the said member in its operative position after both the governor and controlling devices have become inoperative.

2. In an automatic organ, the combination of a tracker bar, a member for operating one of the organ mechanisms, a governor device actuated from the tracker bar, a controlling device separately actuated from the tracker bar, a sustaining device put in operation by simultaneous actuation of the governor and controlling devices to maintain the said member in its operative position after both the governor and controlling devices have become inoperative, and means actuated by the governor device alone to put the sustaining device out of operation and thus allow the return of the said member to its inoperative position.

3. In an automatic organ, a tracker bar; a controlling circuit including contacts on the said bar, a switch and an electromagnet; a governor circuit including contacts on the said tracker bar and an electromagnet for closing the controlling circuit switch; a circuit including an organ-stop operating magnet, an electromagnet and a switch closed by the controlling circuit electromagnet and thereafter maintained closed by the electromagnet in the same circuit; and a switch closed by eriergization of the governor circuit electromagnet to short-circuit the electromagnet in the organ-stop operating magnet circuit.

4. In an automatic organ, the combination of a tracker bar carrying pairs of contacts (10) and (14); an organ-stop operating magnet (3) a circuit (4) including the said magnet; a source of electric current (5) a switch (6) included in the circuit (4) for opening and closing the same; an electromagnet (7 a circuit (11) including the contacts (10) together with a switch (12) and electromagnet (13); a circuit (15) including the contacts (14) together with an electromagnet (16) a spring retracted bar (18) carrying the armature of the electro magnet (16) and the movable part of the switch (12); a spring retracted bar (23) carrying the armatures of the electromagnets (7) and (13) and the movable part of the switch (6); and a shunt circuit (8) across the electromagnet (7 the said shunt circuit including a switch (9) whose mov- JOHN HAYWOOD COMPTON.

Witnesses: V

RONALD E. PUGH, ARTHUR K. GRAHAM.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

